A student has produced a series of vivid photographs that reveal what the networks that keep us connected to the web look like. The images, created by Luis Hernan from Newcastle University, show spectres of Wi-Fi sweeping and swirling around in bright beams. They were produced as part of Hernan’s Digital Ethereal project, which aims to bring the invisible world around us to life.

Luis, who is studying for a PhD in Architecture and Interaction Design, said he is fascinated with the idea of being able to see the hidden wireless networks which surround us.

‘They are there but you can’t see them with the human eye. ‘The fact we are becoming increasingly reliant on something that we can’t see intrigues me. I wanted to find a way to show the wireless which is around us and also to show how it changes. ‘It is an impossibly fragile and volatile infrastructure that holds our digital technologies together, and shapes the way in which we interact with the digital world. ‘Something as seemingly inconsequential as walking around the house will interfere with and reshape their propagation and strength field. ‘Close the wrong door, and the bedroom becomes a dead spot for wireless.’

After years of research and a series of unpleasant experiences concerning the current child protection services system, Alec Cope decided to combat the cancerous corruption through information. Freelance writing articles as a form of protest and distributing them throughout his former high-school and local area, Alec struck special chords with whomever he was in contact with.

Alec has been involved in activism such as sit down protests as well as Idle No More gatherings. Being independent for the majority of his time, Alec became a member of the WeAreChange family to assist one of the organizations that inspired him to become active in the first place. With a larger platform and positive support Alec has committed the majority of his time to research, writing, and maintaining social media with the goal to continue expanding the awakening sweeping throughout all levels of society.

Growing up within a rural area in Northern Michigan as well as being a native American descendant, Alec is seeking to expose environmental abuse in his state as well as globally. A high-school dropout, Alec chases his passion for writing and empowering individuals while showing any isolated person that they too can overcome the odds with a community that will support them. Alec lives in the lower peninsula of Michigan near Kalamazoo.